Wakoku, Kyoto, Imperial Palace, Jogoden, Study.

The sixteen-year-old Meiji Wawang who still had obvious childishness on his face looked at Prince Jiazhang who was kneeling at the bottom with a serious face, "The Qing army has gathered troops, but it is the prelude to an attack?" His voice sounded low and rough, adding a bit of majesty invisibly.

Prince Jiazhang bowed slightly, and said in a respectful tone: "Back to Your Majesty, the Qing army assembled very suddenly, and the speed was also very fast, and the sentry was not active, and there was no sign of an attack...... After a pause, he continued: "The Qing army's troops are strange and unpredictable, once an attack is launched, it will inevitably be lightning fast, and I sincerely pray that Your Majesty will leave Kyoto temporarily." ”

"Where can I go if I leave Kyoto?" Meiji said quietly: "The world is big, but there is no place for me." ”

"Your Majesty." Prince Jiazhang said in a deep voice: "Although the Qing army has cut off the two main roads leading to Edo, Your Majesty can take a detour...... ”

"If I go to Edo, the Qing army will inevitably burn the flames of war to Edo." Meiji's tone was full of helplessness and frustration, "The Qing army's goal is me, and no matter where I go, the Qing army will chase after me." ”

Hearing that his tone was wrong, Prince Jiazhang hurriedly said: "The goal of the Qing army is not Your Majesty, but to destroy our country, Your Majesty is in one day, and our country will not be destroyed in one day!" ”

After a moment of silence, Meiji sighed lightly: "The country is people-oriented, if the people are gone, what if I am here?" What about the country? ”

Hearing him say this, Prince Jiazhang was speechless, and after a while, he said in a deep voice: "The Qing army is so brutal and ruthless, it is nothing more than an intention to deter and intimidate, and force our country to give up resistance.

Although the Qing army is strong, but the number of troops is not much, the total is only more than 100,000 troops, Your Majesty only needs to call on the shogunate and local daimyo to unite to resist to the death, as time goes by, the Qing army can not fight quickly, and will inevitably retreat! ”

Calling on the shogunate and local daimyo to join forces to resist? Meiji didn't think about it, but he found that it was impossible, and it was determined that the Qing army was brutal and ruthless in Osaka Castle and the Osaka Plain, Edo definitely didn't dare to set himself on fire, and Edo was close to the sea, which was more conducive to the Qing army to give full play to the advantages of the navy, and if Edo responded to the joint resistance, the next target of the Qing army would definitely be Edo!

It is estimated that there are few daimyo in various places who can actively respond to the joint resistance, and the Qing army will not wipe out the two powerful domains of Choshu and Satsuma, and the Choshu domain will be wiped out, which is clearly a deterrent warning, and how many daimyo are willing to risk being exterminated to resist the Qing army?

Moreover, even if the shogunate and the daimyo in various places were well aware of the righteousness and actively responded to the joint resistance, would they be able to resist the Qing army? It's nothing more than a lot of killing!

After a long silence, he spoke: "I have carefully inquired and understood, even if we resist stubbornly, it will not last, the territory is too small, and it lacks enough detour depth. ”

"But we're mountainous!" Prince Jiazhang said unwillingly: "Mountain warfare is more beneficial to us!" ”

Meiji glanced at him and said, "We are already short of food, we have lost all the plains, food will be even more scarce, there is no food supply, how can it last?" ”

After a long silence, Prince Jiazhang said in a muffled voice: "What the Qing Kingdom has done to conquer Korea, has Your Majesty heard of it?" ”

Hearing this, Meiji's face was a little ugly, he faintly heard the rumor that after the Qing army conquered Korea, not only the royal family was wiped out, but also the court officials and gentry and wealthy families were not spared, and they were almost slaughtered, but is this rumor true or false? After a little groaning, he said: "The rumors are not credible, the Qing army is brutal, can there be less killing?" ”

Prince Jiazhang said with a solemn expression: "The rumors may not be groundless. ”

"If the rumors are true, if we resist, we may follow in the footsteps of North Korea!" Meiji said softly, "It may be wise to choose to submit...... ”

"Your Majesty, throughout the history of China, there has never been a good death for a king of obedience." Prince Jiazhang hurriedly said: "Persist in resisting, maybe there will be a glimmer of life, if you surrender, you can only be slaughtered!" ”

Meiji said in a deep voice: "If I want to exchange that glimmer of life at the cost of life and devastation, I would rather not." After a pause, he said in a deep voice: "I have decided to go to the capital of the Qing Kingdom to meet and try my best to eliminate this war. ”

Seeing his resolute attitude, Prince Jiazhang groaned: "The minister sent an envoy to the Qing army camp to test their attitude. ”

Hirakata, the camp of the Qing army.

Orders were heard one after another on the training ground, and groups of officers and men were busy training in formation, the troops that had just completed the breakup and mixed formation were busy training and running-in, and the shooting range in the distance was also full of activity, and the officers and men of all units were busy conducting live-fire training, and because of the shortage of ammunition, the live-fire training of the Eighth Banner New Army was generally five rounds of ammunition, and many recruits had never fired at all, after all, the follow-up reinforcements were all recruits.

On the makeshift pergola, Yi Xun, who was dressed in a new military uniform, glanced at the scene on the shooting range, turned to look at Monk Greenqin, and said, "How long will it take for the troops to run in?" ”

"The long is three or five months, and the short is more than a month." Monk Lingqin said slowly: "When the troops are scattered and mixed, it takes time for officers and soldiers to get acquainted with each other ....... Speaking of this, he raised his chin slightly at the shooting range, "The live-fire training of recruits also needs to last for about a month, and Yi Guocheng has specially approved 500,000 rounds of ammunition, so it would be a pity not to finish it." ”

Yi Guocheng specially approved 500,000 rounds of ammunition for live-fire training, and also sent someone to supervise the statistics at the shooting range, obviously because he was afraid that they would withhold and intercept them, and if they didn't use them up, it would really be a waste.

Yixin muttered softly, "Yuan Qi is still not at ease with us, and he is on guard everywhere, like a thief." ”

Monk Greenqin smiled when he heard this, "It's no wonder that Yuan Qi, the Eight Banners New Army has done a lot of things to withhold ammunition, and there are quartermasters who resell ammunition, which are all ammunition fired with live ammunition." ”

"Damn it!" Yi Xun said in a deep voice: "If you find one, kill one, and raid your house, don't be soft!" ”

"With the words of the sixth master, I guarantee that no one will dare to lead." Monk Greenqin said with a smile.

Yixun pulled the conversation back, "If the run-in time is so long, will it affect the war in Kyoto?" ”

"Naturally not." Monk Lingqin said and took a sip of herbal tea from the military kettle, and then continued: "The meaning of Yi Guocheng is to artificially create a great famine and drastically reduce the population of the Japanese country, which is why we need Fei Nuo's great strength to drive so many Japanese people to Kyoto, and after a month or two, they themselves will almost starve to death." ”

In front of the pergola, the rider turned over and dismounted, walked quickly to the front and saluted: "General, the envoy from Kyoto has come to the camp." ”

"Envoy?" Yixun glanced at Monk Greenqin, he took over, and many things were not clear.

"Most of them are sending envoys to sue for peace." Monk Lingqin said disapprehantly: "The general may wish to meet and see what their intentions are." ”

Yi Xun first went back to the camp to meet the envoys of the Japanese state, but the monk Grinqin had been staying at the shooting range until dusk before Shanshan returned to the camp, after washing and eating, he made a pot of tea, and before he could drink it, he heard that Yi Xun was coming, he hurriedly got up and went out, as soon as they met, Yi Xun said: "The Meiji Japanese king hopes to go to Beijing to meet him." ”

As expected, Monk Greenqin smiled, stretched out his hand to let the other party into the house, and after sitting down to serve tea, he said slowly: "Yuan Qi aims to exterminate the Japanese species, and will not accept surrender, so kill the messenger." ”

Killed? Yi Xun was a little surprised, and hesitated: "The two countries are at war, if you don't kill the ......envoys, you should send a telegram to Shanghai." ”

"It's fine." Monk Greenqin said: "This is not a trivial matter, and it is not appropriate not to report it." ”

The next morning, Yi Zhi's return call arrived, and the message was extremely simple, just one word - chop!

After reading the telegram, Yi Xun couldn't help but smile, and handed the telegram to Monk Greenqin, and said, "The monk is still familiar with Yi Guocheng's temperament. ”

"Yi Guocheng is not a soft-hearted lord." Monk Greenqin said: "In the two provinces of Nanyang, Yuan Qi does not know how many natives he killed, in North Korea, Yuan Qi not only drove out the princes and nobles, even the gentry and wealthy families did not let go, and the same is true of Southeast Asian countries, but it was killed by the hand of long hair. ”

Yi Xun had heard of the situation in North Korea, and it was the first time he had heard of the situation in Nanyang and Southeast Asian countries, so he immediately considered it and said: "Look at it in Pingsuli, Yi Guocheng is gentle and elegant, a group of harmony, and he is so murderous in his bones? ”

"It's not that it's murderous, it's for long-term considerations." Seng Lingqin lit a cigarette as he spoke, and said slowly: "Yi Guocheng is to learn the lesson of Annan's repeated rebellions, and destroy the princes, nobles and gentry of various countries in one fell swoop, which is conducive to consolidating the rule and assimilating and integrating.

He said that the colonial rule of Western countries is not advisable, and that sooner or later there will be a national awakening and national independence in all countries, and that if we want to permanently incorporate all countries into the territory of the Qing Dynasty, we must carry out cultural assimilation and national integration. ”

Yi Zhizhi is very far-sighted, Yi Xun is deeply aware of this, and it is indeed a fact that Annan has repeatedly surrendered and rebelled, and only after a little groaning did he bow his head slightly: "Yi Guocheng's hard work, I'm afraid few people can understand." After a pause, he continued: "Why is it different for the Wa Kingdom? ”

"The reason is very simple, the popularity of primary education in the Japanese country is high, half of the people are literate, and even most of the women are literate, which is not conducive to assimilation and integration." Monk Lingqin said, "If the people of the Japanese country knew that it was because of this reason that they were exterminated by the country, I don't know how they would feel?" ”

Yixun was chilled when he heard this, if the Queen Mother violated the law or openly broke her word to obstruct the implementation of the constitution, would Yuan Qi adopt the same extermination policy towards the Manchus? It seems that it is necessary to write an excerpt of these situations, which can be regarded as a warning.

When he came back to his senses, he casually ordered: "Come on, push out the envoy of the Japanese kingdom and behead it!" ”

After the envoy was sent out, there was no news like a mud cow into the sea, Meiji didn't know what the situation was, and sent envoys to Hiraka one after another, until the third time, there was finally an entourage whose ears were cut off and fled back to Kyoto, Meiji knew that all the messengers sent out had been killed, and he couldn't help but gasp, the Qing army refused to surrender and sue for peace, and was determined to kill them all! He just doesn't want to resist!

Just when Meiji was determined to resist to the end, bad news came one after another, and the Qing army that landed from Nagoya blocked all roads in the east and northeast, and even the mountain paths were checkpointed, and the Qing fleet landed from Tsuruga in the north, completely cutting off the retreat to the north.

In short, Kyoto and the surrounding feudal domains are besieged on three sides, and the only way to retreat is to the west!

Chang Imperial Palace, study, Meiji humbly asked Prince Jiazhang for advice: "Is this a typical way to encircle three ques and one fight?" ”

"Your Majesty, in the Chinese art of war, there is indeed a tactic of encircling three ques." Prince Jiazhang pondered and said: "Wai Sanque Yi refers to deliberately leaving a gap and a way to retreat, in case the trapped enemy and beast are still fighting and fighting desperately.

But the Qing army is clearly to kill everything, naturally will not deliberately leave a gap, leave a way to retreat for us, the reason why the west is not encircled, is to hope that we break through to the west, they can follow the pursuit and kill, and destroy the western domains. ”

Meiji said tentatively: "This is tantamount to cutting our country's waist into two pieces and eating them in sections." ”

"Your Majesty." Prince Kasho said in a deep voice: "Edo is not aware of the danger of the situation at the moment, and he still does not move, and by the time they react, it will be too late!" ”

Meiji sighed lightly: "Even if Edo sends troops, it can't solve the siege of Kyoto, how can the shogunate soldiers be the opponent of the Qing army." ”

Prince Jiazhang bowed down and said, "Your Majesty, Kyoto has now become a place of Jedi death, please leave Kyoto as soon as possible!" ”

"To the west? Wouldn't that just fulfill the intention of the Qing army? Meiji said in a resolute tone: "I won't go anywhere, I will live and die with Kyoto!" ”

Seeing his resolute attitude, Prince Kasho didn't persuade much, but he made up his mind in his heart, and turned back to Meiji's mother, Nakayama, to make a suggestion and asked her to persuade Meiji. , groaned slightly, and then he spoke: "Your Majesty, Inaba Masami is willing to take the risk of rushing through the pass, returning to Edo to lobby, and at the same time sending troops to attack the Qing army stationed in Nakasendo ....... front and back." ”

Meiji didn't want to defend Kyoto with a tendon, but he knew that he would never escape the hands of the Qing army if he fled westward, and it was better to defend Kyoto than this, but if he could join forces with the shogunate to flank the Qing army stationed in Nakasendo before and after, open up Nakasendo, and go to Edo, maybe the whole situation would change, but what he was worried about was the shogunate's attitude.

After hesitating, he said, "Is it possible to persuade the shogunate to send troops?" ”

How can you say that you are sure? Prince Jiazhang secretly thought in his heart, now he is just a dead horse as a live horse doctor, but he didn't dare to say this, he had to give hope to the other party, and said in a deep voice: "Your Majesty, Inaba Masashi is one of the elders of Jiamao, and he is well aware of the intentions of the Qing army, as long as he can successfully break through the checkpoint and return to Edo, he will definitely be able to successfully persuade the shogunate to send troops!" ”

Hearing this, Meiji's eyes lit up obviously, "That is the case, this matter must be done as soon as possible, the current situation is critical, and the Qing army may attack at any time." ”